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Climate and Global Change

Warm near the equator and cold at the poles, our planet is able to support a variety of living things because of its diverse regional climates. The average of all these regions makes up Earth's global climate. Climate has cooled and warmed throughout Earth history for various reasons. Rapid warming like we see today is unusual in the history of our planet. The scientific consensus is that climate is warming as a result of the addition of heat-trapping greenhouse gases which are increasing dramatically in the atmosphere as a result of human activities.

Research Highlights

As greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, more of the energy that gets to Earth from the Sun sticks around the planet. This means that the amount of energy coming to Earth is greater than the amount...Read more